Did Pilate Want to Release Jesus?

Tom: We’re continuing with the gospel. We’re in the Gospel of John, John:19:12And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
See All...: “And from thenceforth, Pilate sought to release him [that is, to release Jesus], but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.”

Well, they were kind of going after Pilate on that one, weren’t they?

Dave: Well, Tom, reminds me of the day in which we live. I don’t know whether our president [G.W. Bush]—I presume he’s a real Christian. People who know him tell me that. I don’t know whether holders of high political office—are they Christians or aren’t they Christians? But I know that there is a heavy pressure on them to be politically correct. They don’t want to lose their votes.

Now, this verse says, “Pilate sought to release Jesus.” He didn’t seek very hard. I mean, he’s got the Roman legions there—he could do whatever he wanted. But you don’ t want to offend these people. I mean, you could have an uprising. Furthermore, Caesar could hear about this, and you could…

Tom: It’d look bad in Rome…

Dave: …yeah, lose your position. In fact, Pilate did get thrown out by Caesar, and I think he was executed, and then they tried to wipe out every remembrance of Pilate, as you remember. And then you’ve got that amazing…

Tom: ...seat in the arena.

Dave: Right…

Tom: Antioch by the Sea…

Dave: Yeah, right. This was just the right size for a seat in an arena, so instead of destroying it, they put that down underneath so you couldn’t see it.

Tom: They just turned it upside down.

Dave: Right. And then in an earthquake, it turned it over, and we have this inscription about Pilate—no doubt that he lived. The skeptics used to try to say, “Well, the Bible’s wrong if there’s no such person as Pilate.”

Of course, Josephus mentions Pilate, and there are other historic mentions of it, but anyway, he wants to release Jesus? He doesn’t want very hard to release Jesus, because it’s going to cost him something. So he compromises. We call it being politically correct. You don’t want to get on the outs with these people, and you don’t want to get on the outs with Caesar. They’re going to report this to Caesar. So you don’t stand for truth. You don’t stand on principle. You don’t stand for righteousness. But you go along with the crowd and you compromise.

Many a young person has done this…

Tom: I was going to say, that would bring conviction in my own heart about some things. You ask yourself the question, Are you really looking out for your own interests here? Or is it the interests of Christ?

Dave: You know the old saying: If you are arrested as a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Or are we just kind of going along with the world? We watch the same TV shows, have the same interests, same hobbies, and so forth. Or are we really the followers of Jesus Christ?

But of course, Pilate was not. But anyway…

Tom: Yeah. Verse 13: “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover in about the sixth hour, and he sayeth unto the Jews, Behold your king.”

Dave: Wow. He was willing to let them have Jesus as their king! What would it matter?

Tom: He had no power.

Dave: He’s not going to take over from Pilate. He’s not going to take over from Caesar. After all, they did have their rabbis, and they did have a certain amount of liberty in the practice of their religion. They couldn’t stone people any more.

So, maybe he’s still trying: “Behold your king.” He’s offering them a king. I mean, this is Jesus, who has fed the hungry miraculously, raised the dead, healed the sick. Tom, everybody knows this! This crowd of people out there—they know! Probably some of them were healed by Jesus or fed by Jesus. So Pilate, I guess, is…let’s give him credit…he’s making his best attempt.

Tom: But, Dave, don’t you think he’s really being sarcastic with them?

Dave: I don’t think so.

Tom: Well, let’s look at the next verse: “But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” I mean, he knew…he could see the temper of these people. “Pilate sayeth unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.”

Dave: But, Tom, okay. I’m going to hang in there…

Tom: Okay…

Dave: …with Pilate.

Tom: Okay.

Dave: I think he’s throwing them a crumb. I think he’s trying to pacify them. I don’t think he’s being…it says, “From thenceforth he sought to release him.” I don’t think he’s being sarcastic. “Well, here’s your king—why not?” And they reject Christ as the king…well, of course, what they’re saying is, Tom, you know, who the king was going to be…the Messiah. So, they’re saying, “This is not the Messiah!”

If they had known their own Scriptures, the very day that the Messiah was to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey had just passed four days before. If they knew the Scriptures, they would have known that this was the Messiah. There were many other indications—prophecies—and they would have known.

Tom: Dave, I have a question. Based on what we’ve just been discussing, now, you read this, and in your understanding, this is...you’re taking Pilate’s side, and so on. Now, I read through it, and it seems to me that possibly Pilate might be a little sarcastic here, maybe baiting the crowd a little bit, and so on. Now, does it make any difference here, that you have a…your understanding’s a little different than mine?

Dave: It has so significance as far as the gospel or our salvation is concerned. It’s a matter of interpreting what it says. But when it says, “He sought to release him,” I don’t think he’s being sarcastic. That’s only going to get them…or, Tom you could be right, because he doesn’t want to take the blame. You know, he washed his hands. So maybe he is arousing the crowd so it will be their fault that Jesus is crucified, and he can report to Caesar, “Well, I just did what they wanted.” I don’t know.

Tom: Yeah, but the point I’m trying to make is people are reading through the Scriptures. I love to wrestle with these things. We don’t want to speculate too much, as you said, when things begin to touch upon the gospel, the truth, of what Christ did, the Bible is very clear. But I think we have some latitude with regard to our understanding here, as long as we are not compromising, contradicting, perverting the truth of the Scriptures.

Dave: Yeah…

Tom: That’s what I think…

Dave: Yeah, come to your own conclusions. See, you almost won me over to your side!

Tom: (laughing) Well, Dave, you know, I like to defer to you because, you know, I’m 26 years in the Lord, but you’re a lot older than that. You’re…

Dave: I think I’m 64…

Tom: 64, and I appreciated your diligence over the years, you know, your love of the Word of God, and so on, so I just appreciate what you say.

Dave: “Behold your king!”

Tom: But you didn’t change my mind about this passage.

Dave: Well, we’re kind of almost in agreement.

Tom: Yeah, we are.

Dave: But they cried out, “Away with him. Away with him. Crucify him.” The scripture says they hated Him without a cause, Isaiah 53: “Despised and rejected of men…” He’s done nothing but good. He’s healed the sick, He’s raised the dead, He’s opened the eyes of the blind…I mean, look what they’re missing! Look what He could do if He remained there. There wouldn’t be any sick people. There wouldn’t be any blind or lame people. Nobody would be without food. Look what they’re doing!

Tom: They’ve experienced some of that…a lot of that!

Dave: Yes, indeed they had! You know the old saying…

Tom: It wasn’t theoretical.

Dave: They are spiting themselves. Why, Tom? We could talk a lot about that, because He’s the Light of the world. And His character, His love, His humility—it reveals their sin. And they’ve had enough of Him. They can’t take it any more. This is why, you know, I think I mentioned I was talking with this new convert in Israel who called me on the phone, and he said, “They don’t want to believe. Because they don’t want to face the consequences of knowing that they were created by God, that Christ loves them and died for their sins.” I think that was the problem here.